Once upon a time, there was a lake in the kingdom of Belphegor. This lake was populated by twenty beautiful white swans that were so beautiful, that the people who came to the lake couldnâ€™t help to say Ohhh! and Ahhh! every time they looked at the swans.

â€śOh, look at the swans, they are so beautifulâ€ť, a woman said.
â€śI have never seen anything more beautiful in my lifeâ€ť, the man said.

And whenever the twenty swans heard the people saying how beautiful they were, they spread their wings and felt very proud.

â€śWe are beautifulâ€ť, the swans said to each other. â€śWe are beautiful creatures, everybody loves us. Just look how happy the people are, when they see usâ€ť.

Then one day, the King, who had heard of the lake with the beautiful swans, came to see them. He brought his wife, the Queen, and his daughter, the Princess.

When the Princess saw the twenty swans, she cried: â€śOh, father, look at the swans, they are so beautiful.â€ť

When the swans heard the princess, they spread their wings and swam closer to the royal family.

â€śOh, fatherâ€ť, the princess said, â€śI want to take them home to our palace. Please can I take them with me?â€ť

â€śMy dear daughterâ€ť, the King answered, we donâ€™t have that much space in our carriage! I am afraid you can only take one swan!â€ť

â€śThenâ€ť, the daughter said, â€śI want to take the most beautiful swan with me. But I donâ€™t know which swan is the most beautiful swan. They all look very beautiful, but they all look the same!â€ť

The King and the Queen thought the same thing. They saw twenty beautiful swans but they all looked the same.

The King asked Myrtor, the magician, for help.

â€śMyrtorâ€ť, he said, â€śhelp us to find the most beautiful swan so that we can take it home with us.â€ť

Myrtor, the magician, took his magic wand and spoke a few magic words. Then it made Poof, and there was some smoke. When the smoke was gone, Myrtor, the magician had a small black swan in his hand.

â€śThis black swan will help us to find the most beautiful swanâ€ť, Myrtor said and helped the little black swan onto the lake.

The little black swan swam to the white swans. It was so small and tiny and so black that it looked very different from the beautiful and big white swans on the lake.

When the white swans saw the black swan, they started yelling.

â€śLook, the little black and ugly thing that is swimming in our direction. How dare it! We are too beautiful. We donâ€™t want this little black and ugly swan hereâ€ť.

And all the twenty swans swam towards the black swan and when they reached it they thrusted their beaks into the black swan. The black swan cried and yelled.

â€śStop itâ€ť, the black swan cried. â€śYou are killing me!â€ť

But the white swans didnâ€™t stop.

â€śYou are uglyâ€ť, they said. â€śWe donâ€™t want you hereâ€ť.

And the blood of the black swan splashed onto the white feathers of the white swans.

After some time, the little black swan was dead and all the swans had blood on their white feathers.

â€śIâ€™m sorryâ€ť, Myrtor said to the King. â€śThe swans have beautiful feathers, but their hearts are ugly and black. They are not really beautifulâ€ť.

And so the King and the Queen and the Princess went home again. Without a swan.